Underlay for rugs or mats to be placed on a carpet with a deep pile

ABSTRACT

AN UNDERLAY FOR PLACING BETWEEN A MAT AND A DEEP-PILE CARPET, COMPRISING A FLEXIBLE LATTICE STRUCTURE OF THREADS, A NON-SLIP COATING ON ONE SIDE OF SAID LATTICE STRUCTURE AND A TEXTILE FIBRE FLOCK ON THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID STRUC-   TURE, THE FLOCK BEING ARRANGED AROUND THE THREADS OF THE LATTICE STRUCTURE AND RADIALLY ALIGNED SO AS TO POINT TO THE CENTRES OF THE INDIVIDUAL THREADS.

June 3, 1971 c. KOLCKMANN 3,583,8

UNDERLAY FOR BUGS OR MATS TO BE PLACED ON A CARPET WITH A DEEP PUJE Filed .July 25. 196s NVENTO? @LA ug fm n( MA A//I/ United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 161--64 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An underlay for placing between a mat and a deep-pile carpet, comprising a exible lattice structure of threads, a non-slip coating on one side of said lattice structure and a textile libre Hock on the other side of said structure, the llock being arranged around the threads of the lattice structure and radially aligned so as to point to the centres of the individual threads.

The invention concerns an underlay for rugs or mats which are to be placed on a carpet with a deep pile.

Experience has shown that such mats when laid on a carpet with a deep pile, and Walked over, are laid to slip in a certain direction over the carpet. This undesirable phenomenon is explained by the fact that when a mat which is placed on a deep pile carpet is walked on, then the pressure on the pile of the carpet base bends the pile yarns momentarily in a particular direction determined by the weave of the carpet. With continued walking, the yarns are centrally deflected and re-erected, causing a slow progressive movement of the mat. With frequent walking over, such a mat may travel a distance of several metres over the carpet within a short time. If a very soft mat is concerned it becomes rucked up and has a very untidy appearance. Objects such as tables placed on such mats are carried along and may be moved out of place.

It has already been proposed to eliminate this action by making an underlay of a fabric foil, cardboard or felt having a layer of latex of plastics material, foamed or unfoamed, on its surface, or having cemented thereon a layer of finely grained, anti-slip granular material, whilst its underside is coated with adhesive layer which is shear resistant and is provided with a vertical pile of textile libres such as sisal, coco-nut libre, wool, Perlon, Nylon, cellulose or cotton fibres.

The present invention provides a simple and cheap non-slip underlay which is so thin that it does not show in use.

An underlay in accordance with the invention comprises a lattice-like structure of textile threads, paper threads, metal wires, or plastics material, e.g., polyvinyl chloride, polyamide, polystyrene, or polyethylene one side of the lattice-like structure being rubberized or provided with anti-slip adhesives or plastics materials or foamed plastics materials with sand cemented thereon or with a very low pile, whilst the other side of the lattice-like structure is coated with adhesives applied to the centre of the lattice structure, and then ilocked with textile libres, e.g. sisal, coco-nut, wool, Perlon, Nylon, cellulose or cotton or even glass or metal libres, which ocks are arranged in a semi-circle around the ribs of the lattice-like structure all radially aligned so as to point towards the centre of the individual ribs.

The criss-cross ribs of the lattice-like structure, in conjunction with the described radial formation of the flocks, engage rmly with the pile of any carpet on which it is placed, since in every direction a suicient number of ocks dig into the pile, preventing any rug or mat placed thereon from drifting.

In an alternative form of the invention, the lattice-like structure is coated with flock all around. By imparting a suitable colour to the ocks, the underlay provides the carpet with a pleasing appearance since the underlay which now constitute a cover, does not completely obscure the pile of the carpet but allows it to show through the openwork lattice. It is also possible to provide the surface of the overlay with variegated flock patterns.

Finally, such variegated colour flock overlays may also be used for lining exhibits in shop windows and the like, and if the ock is applied to both sides, either side may be presented to view.

Reference should now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing:

FIG. 1 the underlay or overlay between an upper rug or mat and a lower piled carpet, in vertical section;

FIG. 2 the underlay of FIG. 1 on its own, also in a vertical section;

FIG. 3 a plan view of the underlay of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 a fragmentary section of the underlay of FIGS. 2 and 3 in vertical section and on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 5 a plan View of a diamond-shaped lattice section of the underlay of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 a lattice thread coated with plastics materials shown in cross-section and on an enlarged scale, with ock libres of equal length inserted all around; and

FIG. 7 an enlarged cross-section of a lattice thread coated with plastics material with inserted flocks, which on the upper half of the lattice thread are shorter than on the lower half.

An underlay is shown as an intermediate layer 1 in FIGS. 1 to 5 and comprises longitudinal threads 2 and transverse threads 3, if a lattice of square structure is used as basis according to FIGS. 3 and 5. In FIG. 1 the anti-slip intermediate layer is placed between a deep pile carpet 4 and a rug 5; the pile direction of the pile fibres 6 is not vertical, but directed at an angle to the left, causing a rug 5 placed thereon to travel to the right when the pile is depressed and rights itself again. This undesired phenomenon is prevented by the flocks 7 which, after coating the textile threads 2 and 3 or the like with plastics material on the side with which the intermediate layer 1 is to be supported on the carpet, are inserted in the still soft foamed plastics material. The intermediate layer 1 is so engaged and supported on the pile threads 6 of the carpet 4 by the flocks 7 that the intermediate layer 1 and the rug 5 placed thereon cannot become displaced, since the plastics layer 8 applied to the surface of the intermediate layer also prevents the slipping of the rug and forms a non-slip means at the upper surface of the lattice structure.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show that the flock coating of the textile or the like threads 2 and 3 enveloped with foamed plastics material 8 or the like, can also be applied all around the threads. In this case, with ocks of equal length around as shown in FIG. 6, the intermediate layer can'be laid directly on a deep-pile carpet and so impart to the carpet, the anti-slip elect of the invention. Thus, with these embodiments the upper non-slip means is formed by the upper ock. The two sides of the overlay can in addition be coated with flocks 7 differing in colour, so that depending upon which side is face upward, the colour changes, Even when the ocks 7 as shown in FIG. 7 on the upper side are kept short, a rug placed thereon, owing to the hedgehog-like formation of the flocks, is prevented from slipping when walked over; the flocks surround the ribs of the lattice structure in a semi-circle and are all aligned relative to the centre line of the threads 2 and 3, which are coated with plastics material or the like. The

3 panels defined by the thread webs can be of any desired shape, but the square lattice structure shown is simplest and cheapest to manufacture and therefore the preferred embodiment.

I claim:

1. An underlay for placing between a mat and a deeppile carpet, forming therebetween a non-slip intermediate layer, comprising a ilexible lattice structure of threads, a non-slip means on an upper side of said lattice structure and a textile iibre flock on the lower side of said structure, the flock being in the form of short libres distributed longitudinally along and arranged around the threads of the lattice structure projecting radially from the threads so as to point outwardly from the axes of the individual threads in all directions, thus forming from said flock fibres for piercing in all directions into a deeppile carpet therebeneath to prevent slipping with respect thereto and thus prevent slipping of a mat on said lattice structure with respect to a deep-pile carpet.

2. An underlay as recited in clairn 1, wherein said lattice structure has between said threads polygonal openings and said ock fibres extending only partly across said openings to leave a free open space in the central region of each opening.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said nonslip means is in the form of a plastic coating on said lattice structure at said upper side thereof.

4. An underlay as recited in clairn 1, said lattice structure being coated with plastics material and flocked all around each thread with flock bres all projecting radially from each thread at the upper and lower sides thereof, so that said non-slip means on said upper side is formed by the fibres at the upper side.

5. An underlay as recited in claim 4, said lattice structure being coated with plastics material and flocked all around each thread with long ock fibres on one side of said lattice structure and short ilock ibres on the other side.

6. An underlay as recited in claim 4, wherein said underlay has flocks of different colours on its top and bottom surfaces.

7. An underlay as recited in claim 4 and wherein all of said libres are of equal length.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,285,796 11/1966 McElhinney ll-67X 3,410,747 11/1968 Orr 161-67X WILLIAM A. POWELL, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

